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Chamonix Activity Report: 16th August 2012

Monkeying around in Gaillands and MTB in Vallorcine

featured in Activity reviews Author Ellie Mahoney, Chamonix Editor Updated

What better way to spend a hen do in Chamonix than dressing up the bride to be as a monkey and swinging through the trees in the new Accropark at Lac de Gaillands...!

None of us quite knew how big the new adventure park was going to be when we got there, but it was clearly popular as the gathering crowds proved. For 19 euros (adult price) you can spend as long as you like traversing in the tree-tops, and there are routes graded just for kids, then green, blue, red and black, so its your choice how gnarly you make it.

After a short introduction to clipping in and out with various carabinas and a pulley system, we were let loose in the woods. Since it was getting a bit busy with various other groups (which meant a bit of a wait to climb up) we decided to split into 2 groups, one lot heading off on the blue course and one on the red. After climbing up, you're met with all kinds of obstacles hanging between the trees, from cargo nets to wonky swings that you have to clamber over, a skate-board, zip-slides (which was everyones favourite bit). I lost track of the number of zip-lines there were - everywhere you were in the park there seemed to be someone flying past either under you or over your heads with people screaming out as they flew by.

It's definitely tiring on the arms and took a lot longer to get around than we initially thought (we were on a deadline to get to the Aiglons Hotel for a girly hen-do lunch and spa), so if you've got a good half day to a day free, I'd say you could probably do the green, the blue and the red quite easily back to back. (Bear in mind you have to be pretty mobile and flexible - it definitely suited the climbers in the group better than the non-climbers).

We took a look at the black since we'd run out of time, and to be honest it looked pretty hard core; a vertical climb up a wall with easily spaced hand holds led you straight onto vertical telegraph poles with small foot holds at the very bottom, which swung around wildly when you glanced them with your foot... some of the group were desparate to get up there, but we had to leave it for another day (and I have to say I'm quite glad too).

The good news is you don't have to book in advance, you can just turn up and queue, pay, and get going. There's a little buvette there for drinks and snacks once you've come back down, and you're just up the road from Le Vert Hotel if you're feeling like you need a more susbstantial lunch or a beer.

Saturday was given over to mountain biking, and I planned to meet up with a few people to take my first spin down the black track at Vallorcine. After a few warm up laps from top to bottom on Le Tour side (see pics), I went over to investigate why this track has such a gnarly reputation.

A point to note is that the Vallorcine gondola shuts for lunch between 12:30 - 13:30, which was quite good for my timing, as when I got over there the track was empty and I could ride down knowing there wouldn't be anyone chasing me down all the way, plus I could get off and take a look at the harder sections first. Take a look at our video from last year to give you an idea of what it's like (n.b. IT IS NOT for beginners!) and have a look at some of the pics above of Cam Cole and Sam Blenkinsop riding it last year (thanks to Steve from Perfect Moment for these pics).

Once you're about half way down you can choose to either go straight over the fire road and into the woods for a great bit of single-track (my preferred route) or follow the fire road a bit further down hill and keep an eye out for the tell-tale skid marks disappearing off to your left. If jumps and big step-downs are your thing, then there's plenty to keep you smiling on this bottom section. I took a spin down this part to have a look, but left the jumps to the boys with the big bikes!

By the 4th time down I was only walking round 2 of the steeper rockier corners, and getting better lines on some of the other more technical sections, so mission accomplished, and I'll be back for more at some point soon (but not too soon - ahem more on that in a bit...)

So the day was coming to an end and a couple of us decided to head up to Grand Montets mid station for one last spin on a long, techy trail that brings you back out around Les Tines just after Lavancher. The same pass (20€ VTT pass) covers you for this lift too, and it makes it better value for money and more interesting if you mix it up a bit. Find out more about summer passes here.

I was starving and almost backed out to head home for a shower and a cold beer, but I got tempted by a sugary waffle and that fateful 'one last run' before home. Things started well and I remembered a few bits of the trail from having ridden it at the end of last summer, a large meadow with some long rutted bits to keep you on your toes, then off into the woods for some bumpy rooty rocky action, also good to test your focus when you're riding over it at a bit of a pace. Anyway before not very long my rear mech sheared off and broke a couple of spokes. Thankfully the lads I was with were pretty nifty with fixing things, so I ened up with my chain and the derailleur in my back pack, called a friend to collect me from the station at Les Tines, and set off again to finish the trail.

Literally 2 minutes after I'd uttered the words 'well at least I've not broken myself, it's just the bike'... and wham, smack, I'd fallen off and badly turned my ankle, fearing it was broken. Lucky for me one of the lads is training to be a bike leader & knew exactly what to do from a first aid perspective, and 2 of us had the number for the PGHM in our phones. There was no way I was going to be able to walk down so we called the PGHM (I suggest you save it now if you don't already have it: +33 (0)4 50 53 16 89). and in under an hour a helicopter came to pick me up, and whisked me off to Sallanches hospital where they're better at dealing with breaks and injuries that may need an operation to sort out.

Thankfully nothing's broken, but I'm sporting a plaster cast for a week until they take another look and let me know what happens next. It will definitely teach me not to tempt fate by saying something so stupid next time, and unfortunately it's going to keep me off my bike for a good few weeks to come :-(

My next report will be about eating ice-creams and relaxing in the sun!

Location

Map of the surrounding area